Last updated at 14:18, Monday, 27 July 2009

A MAN whose wife and newly-born son died within hours of each other has labelled a hospital ward a disgrace – despite an inquest ruling no-one was to blame for their deaths.

FURNESS GENERAL HOSPITAL

Nittaya Hendrickson had met her husband Carl while he was on holiday in her native Thailand.

The couple then lived together with their children in Pennington Lane, Ulverston.

Mrs Hendrickson, 35, fell pregnant with their third child and was due to give birth in July last year.

She was admitted to Furness General Hospital in Barrow on July 31 and she was induced.

Minutes after her waters broke, tragedy struck when Mrs Hendrickson suffered a fit with her husband by her side. Doctors were called but another fit occurred and she died shortly afterwards.

At an inquest yesterday at Barrow Town Hall, Mr Hendrickson described the agonising moment when he felt his wife die in his arms.

He said: “She started fitting and that’s the point when I felt her die, she had gone.”

Mr Hendrickson said he told the midwife, Jo Moorby, that his wife had already suffered one fit while they were in the room.

But he said she insisted Mrs Hendrickson had only fainted and that the baby would be delivered without a doctor.

Mr Hendrickson said: “She went red and was distressed and then she had a fit, I was a medic in the army, I know what a fit is.

“I told the midwife and said we need a doctor, but she said: ‘It was only a faint, we don’t need no doctors here, me and Nittaya are going to deliver this baby.’”

Giving evidence at the inquest, Mrs Moorby denied refusing to call a doctor.

She said: “There was only one event and that was when I pulled the emergency bell.

“If I had reason to be concerned, I would have pulled the bell.

“I never mentioned a faint at any point.

“I would never refuse to get a doctor.”

In a desperate bid to save her unborn son, doctors carried out an emergency Caesarean on Mrs Hendrickson.

Chester Hendrickson was born alive around 20 minutes after Mrs Hendrickson suffered the first fit, and although he had a strong heartbeat, the newly-born boy was struggling to breathe.

Dr Saeed Ghanim, a consultant paediatrician, told the inquest that Chester had suffered a lack of oxygen while doctors struggled to help his mother and remove him from her womb.

Dr Ghanim said: “The baby was not breathing, the breathing centre in his brain had already been damaged from a lack of oxygen.

“He required aggressive and intensive resuscitation.”

Chester was taken to the special care baby unit at FGH, where nurses initially told Mr Hendrickson that his son was doing well.

But the following day, doctors discovered Chester had suffered severe brain damage and Mr Hendrickson was forced to make the agonising decision not to continue treatment.

A postmortem on Mrs Hendrickson revealed she had experienced an amniotic fluid embolism, a rare emergency in which amniotic fluid, fetal cells, hair or other debris enters the mother’s blood stream via the placental bed of the uterus and triggers an allergic reaction.

Coroner for South and East Cumbria, Mr Ian Smith, said: “What a sad and tragic story this is.

“I don’t believe that anybody is telling me lies deliberately.

“I think something may have happened which Mr Hendrickson may have observed but I don’t think midwife Moorby did.”

Recording a verdict of natural causes in the death of Mrs Hendrickson, Mr Smith said: “She died from a very rare complication which is usually fatal and whose cause is not yet understood by medical science.

“Chester died as a consequence of being deprived of oxygen during birthing process, which led to brain damage and ultimately to his death.”

Mr Hendrickson, an employee in the clinical services department at FGH, told the Evening Mail after the inquest that he was considering taking legal action against the hospital trust.

The 42-year-old said: “The whole thing has been a shambles, an absolute shambles.

“I’ve got a letter from the hospital where they admit she did have the initial fit or faint.

“I’ve worked at the hospital for two years but I am now considering taking legal action and I am going to have to have a long think about working there.”

After the inquest, Peter Dyer, medical director of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust, said: “For any family to lose a mother and baby during childbirth is an absolute tragedy and our heartfelt sympathy goes to Nittaya’s husband, Carl, and her family.

“Nittaya’s death was caused by an amniotic fluid embolism, which is an extremely rare complication of pregnancy that happens in fewer than two in 100,000 pregnancies.

“It cannot be foreseen and therefore cannot be treated or prevented prior to it occurring.

“Baby Chester was extremely ill at birth and despite the very best care, both at Furness General Hospital and Royal Preston Hospital, it was not possible for doctors to save him.

“In circumstances such as these, we always review what happened to see whether there are any lessons we can learn for the future.”

First published at 10:40, Saturday, 25 July 2009
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk